Let Me Fall
by Sleep Warrior
Summary: As she burst through the roof door she gave the ghost the chance to shove them both of them off. Cackling madly he flew off, leaving her clinging to her son on the side of a twentystory apartment building...


Well, this is just a short one-shot I wrote quite a while ago, and decided to post today since I've got nothing better to do until chapter 7 of DOVE gets back from my editor. Well I guess I COULD work on 8, but…:) Anyway enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom

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"Mom, you have to let go." Her son stared up at her pleadingly, his bright blue eyes filled with fear and determination. Shaking her head at him, Maddie tried to tighten her grip on the edge of the twenty-story building that both she and her son were currently dangling from.

"No, Danny, I'm not going to let you die!" As the words left her mouth she slipped further off of the ledge, slowly losing her grip on her son's hand. He wasn't even trying to save himself, the hand she was clutching hanging limply in the air as she desperately tried to hold on. Nothing she had said would change his mind; he was determined to be the hero, to sacrifice himself for her life. But there was no way Maddie Fenton was going to let her son plummet to his death.

"Let go mom! I'll be okay if you just let me go; please, you have to listen, there isn't much time left before we both fall!" She choked back a sob, still not about to do what he asked. She knew that if she did she would live, but he would fall off the top of the apartment building to his death. He was only trying to make her feel better; but if she let go she would regret it for the rest of her life, knowing that her choice would have killed her only son.

By now tears were streaming down both of their faces. Strange rings kept forming around her son's waist, but she attributed them to something that the technology-loving ghost who was now rampaging across the town must have done. Thinking back on the rest of the day, it was hard to believe that only a short hour ago she'd finished her latest invention, the Fenton Neutralizer; a small wristband that completely disrupted the powers of any ghost that came in contact with the wearer. Earlier she'd tried to get Danny interested in the project, but he'd seemed more interested in doing his homework. Her ghost radar had gone of, and she had quickly strapped the new device on in hopes of testing it on the strange, long-winded technological ghost that flew out of the portal onto the streets of Amity Park. She had followed him across town until he'd led her here, where she'd surprisingly found her son trying to fight him. Unfortunately as she burst through the roof door she had allowed the ghost to shove them both off of the roof, where Maddie had barely caught her son as he flew past her.

"Please mom, trust me. You have to let go! We'll both die if don't." As her tears fell down onto her arm, Maddie looked down at her son's scared, yet determined face. He didn't seem afraid to die; in fact he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that they were dangling twenty stories above the street. But she was afraid for both of them; she was never going to let him go.

"No, I won't, I'll save you. Someone has to see us sooner or later, and they'll come help us. We have to hold onto each other for just a bit longer!" Her son sighed exasperatedly, still pleading to her.

"It won't work. We'll both be dead by then unless you let me go! You have to trust me mom!" A huge shudder ran through the building as an out-of-control semi truck ran into the base, causing the two swinging occupants to sway dangerously over the deserted street. Maddie cried out as her fingers lost their grip on her son's wrist, and she helplessly watched as he plummeted towards the blacktop below with a look of relief on his face.

"NO! DANNY!!" A wordless scream left her mouth, and she closed her eyes, expecting to hear the horrifying thud of her son's body as it hit the ground…but it never came.

Cautiously opening her eyes, she looked down towards the ground, but the sight that met her eyes was more painful than any she could have imagined. Two bright, white rings formed around his waist; the same one's she'd seen when they'd both been dangling off of the building. Yet this time they split up and down his body, transforming his tattered jeans and t-shirt into a sickeningly familiar jumpsuit, and changing his jet black hair to icy-white. Gasping softly, Maddie gaped down at him. He flew back up to where she hung, sorrow and shame reflecting in his bright green eyes as he looked at her.

"…Mom? Are you okay?" She didn't answer him, instead closing her eyes and running the scene through her head again.

"Mom?" Concern filtered into his voice, and she reopened her eyes, seeing him hesitantly reaching out his hand.

"You have to turn the neutralizer off before I can help you, mom." Numbness filling her mind, she slowly reached up and pressed the red off button, a soft hum emitting from the device as it shut down. His cold arms wrapped around her waist and he lifted her up to the top of the building, slowly setting her down.

Safely on the roof, Maddie's mind finally had the chance to wrap around the scenario that had just played out. They were both okay; both alive…somehow, and her son was the notorious Danny Phantom. As she looked up into his now blue eyes, she could finally see the pain and hurt that had been hiding there for the past two years. This whole time she had been trying to hurt her own son, and now his former peculiarities finally made sense; how he'd never actually tried to hurt them, how he always seemed to be on their side even though he was a ghost himself. She realized how much he must have suffered, battling with the fact that his parents hated one half of him and loved the other and whether or not to tell them who he really was. Finally finding her voice, she brought her hand up to his sorrowful face.

"I'm so sorry, Danny." A smile lighting his warm features, he leaned forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, whispering quietly into her ear.

"Thank you, mom"

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Aww, how's that for sweet? It's not my best work, but then again it came to me in a flash and I haven't really looked at it much since, except to edit it a tad before I posted. Please tell me what you thought while I go work on chapter 8!!

TSW


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